Freedom of information laws (now Government Information Public Access Act or GIPA Act) provide the public with the right to access government information to ensure that the government is open,fair,effective and accountable.
Members of the public can make a formal access application seeking access to specific government information by filling in the appropriate form & submitting it it with a $30 application fee to the appropriate agency
Details on how to make a formal access application & forms can be found at:
https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/information-access
(CAUTION: Please refer to our IPC page as we alleged serious issues with conduct of the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd)
The object of the GIPA Act is required to be promoted by all agencies,government officers (including legal officers),judicial officials,ministers,ministerial staff,tribunal members,commissioners and all those employed under the Government Sector Employment Act.
There are specific statutory obligations placed on agencies under the GIPA Act including:
- Sect.51.2 An initital decision is required to be provided to the applicant within 5 working days
- Sect.57 A final decision on is required to be provided to the applicant within 20 working days (subject to change)
It is the authors experience that these statutory / mandatory obligations are routinely breached.
Furthermore GIPA Act Sect.16 of the imposes the statutory / mandatory obligation that the agency officers provide reasonable advice & assistance to assist the applicant gain access to the information sought access to.
Sect.111,112,116,117,118,119 & 120 are supposed to be protections for the public to ensure that agency officers do not breach their conduct obligations / perpetrate offences which would compromise the integrity of the access application.
During the application processing,legitimate questions may arise as to the (lack of) assistance being provided;the interpretation & application of the Act by an officer or what appears to be just plain misconduct (for example a blatant lie / false statement).
If the applicant is dissatisfied with the